Wanderings
by Darkness.Is.Ever.Shadowed
Summary: After losing the Ponds, the Doctor crashes in front of his newest companion. However, this one has a few secrets she plans on keep from him, and a past of her own. Genre may change.
1. Chapter 1

Her eyes glinted as the sun rose slowly on the horizon. Her ever-faithful companion, a mutt in its prime, stood resolute at her side. Her long jacket fluttered slightly in the morning breeze and her light brown hair danced slightly with the wind.

She was waiting—for what she wasn't entirely sure—but she was waiting all the same. It would only come to her once whatever it was arrived.

And so The Traveler waited with Mutt, watching the sun rise.

XxXxX

Meanwhile, a man in a bowtie and some ridiculous hat was careening throughout time and space in his TARDIS.

"Why can't you just go where I want to go for once?" he shouted at the console, smacking it harshly. After a moment of thought, he patted it gently.

"Sorry, Sexy."

This man had just lost two close friends. No matter what he'd tried, everyone he loved, everyone he showed the wonders of the universe to… they were all lost in the end. Some simply went back to their old lives, but others were away from his reach ever again. Such was it with the Ponds.

A sudden crashing sound caused him to break out of his reverie.

The Doctor had landed.

XxXxX

She looked up, her eyes widening at the sight. Even with the disguise, there was no mistaking the thing that had just crash-landed before her. A genuine TARDIS—she hadn't seen one since hers gave out two years ago. She stretched out a hand to touch it, but shrunk back as the door opened. _It's probably as well_, she thought in the moment before the man stepped out. This _TARDIS seems to have seen a lot of action_.

"Now where am I?" he grumbled in frustration. Mutt began barking at the strange man, but The Traveler hid by the side of the man's TARDIS. He seemed lost, but not in the sense that he didn't know where he was and was scared. He was lost in the sense that he was angry, confused, and deeply sad. He was lost in the sense that she was lost. Except she had Mutt. He didn't seem to have anyone.

"A dog. Seems Earth enough," he muttered, reaching down to try and pet Mutt. The dog began to growl but didn't snap at the man's hand. "Fine then. I won't pet you." The Traveler stepped out from behind the TARDIS (she had been cautious not to touch it) and motioned for Mutt to come to her side.

"Time Lord," she stated, not looking at the man. His eyes widened and he sputtered as he tried to form sentences.

"Where did you come from?" he finally managed.

"Gallifrey, same as you I imagine," she retorted.

"N-no, I mean, yes that, but, where did you come from… just now? And who is this?" he pointed to Mutt as he looked closely at the Traveler.

"You crashed in front of me, so I snuck around the side of your TARDIS to take a look. And this is my dog, Mutt." She motioned to her companion, who cocked his head at the stranger. "And who might you be?"

"I'd rather not say." She frowned.

"Nice meeting you, Time Lord. Nice to know there are more of us out there." She turned to leave, Mutt trotting at her heels.

"Wait!" he said, following her. "Maybe we could talk about you know, everything? How we both got here, how you've managed to survive, all of that?" He looked at her, pleading. His recent loss was so fresh in his face that, despite her better judgment, she nodded.

"We can go to my place. It's safe there. Just follow me."

XxXxX

She led him to a small place in the woods—it was rundown enough to look like no one lived there, but not dangerous enough for pesky kids to be poking their noses in where they shouldn't be.

"You live here?" he asked uncomfortably. She glared at him as Mutt led the way. "It's hardly large enough for one person to live comfortably, let alone someone and their dog…"

"It's bigger on the inside," she snapped, successfully shutting him up for the time being. "And it's far enough away from society that I don't stand out as 'alien.'" He followed behind her as she reached the house and opened the door, revealing a cozy and clean space.

"Well this is nice."

"I set the Chameleon Circuit to blend in like this house on both the inside and the outside when we landed for the last time." She began to mumble some technological jargon that even the Doctor had trouble following.

"Sorry?" She stared at him blankly.

"Forget it. I'm sure you'll ask me again later," she said, still unsure about having him around. He sat down, and she headed into the small kitchen to make some tea. As it brewed, Mutt walked over to the Doctor and allowed him to gently pet him on the head.

"So, tell me your story," she said, pouring some tea. "Not about Gallifrey… but after. Obviously you escaped the War, but what did you do after that?" The Doctor took the cup, making sure not to touch her hand as she had requested.

"I wandered, basically," he said. "It's been a long time… and a lot of," he choked up and paused for a moment, "a lot of wonderful companions." The Traveler closed her eyes; trying not to think of those she had called companions, those she had shown the wonders of the universe to.

"Tell me about them," she whispered.

"There were so many of them, you know… All of them wonderful to the very end…" He seemed to be transported into his past; he hardly even noticed where he was. His focus was on recalling those wonderful people he had travelled with.

"Um? Excuse me?"

"Sorry, I uh… just lost some of them… I've been through a lot lately. Daleks, Cybermen, Weeping Angels, so many others…" The Traveler's eyes widened in shock.

"Daleks?" she asked, masking the twinge of fear with a calm exterior.

"Yeah. Thought they were gone, but apparently not. Then again, I thought I was the last of the Time Lords…" He looked up at her.

"I suppose."

He sat there, awkwardly moving his hands. The Traveler saw she had made him uncomfortable and endeavored to remedy the situation.

"Look, um, I guess if you want to rest up a bit—you seem like you've been through a lot recently—you can stay here. I can make up a bed on the couch and-" She broke off when she saw the Doctor's confused face.

"I'm sorry; I'm not used to… time passing regularly." She laughed.

"I know the feeling. It's just for the night. I'm not going to convert you to my sedentary ways." He smiled slightly.

"Um, thanks, then."


	2. Chapter 2

She sat in the chair opposite his makeshift bed as he woke up.

"When was the last time you slept?" she asked incredulously.

"Why do you ask?" he replied groggily.

"Because you slept for a whole day." He sat bolt upright, confusion plain on his face.

"What?" he nearly shouted.

"Time lag, probably. I imagine you were careening recklessly through the Time Vortex the other day—and probably every day before—and if you haven't slept in a long while you've probably got some extreme time lag."

"I don't follow."

"Time lag is commonly associated with overexposure to the Time Vortex combined with a lack of regular sleep. Symptoms include excessive lethargy, disorientation, and occasionally irritability," she replied. He looked blankly at her.

"Are you for real?"

"I'm as real as you are," she replied curtly, "Time Lord."

"Care to take me back to my TARDIS then?" he asked sarcastically.

"No, I think I'll keep you here and turn you into a refugee like me," she shot back, smiling. Her smile faded as she realized what she was doing. He looked at her quizzically.

"Something wrong?"

"You need to go. I'll take you back to your TARDIS, but after that I'll have to leave you." He stood up and straightened his bowtie before looking directly at her.

"Whatever you say," he replied with a knowing grin. A sad gaze from her soon caused this grin to fade.

XxXxX

"You're very hesitant to get attached to people," he remarked as they left the house, Mutt walking between them.

"And you're hesitant to tell me your name," she shot back. He groaned in frustration.

"Have you always been like this?"

"Have you?" He sighed.

"Fine then," he snapped. "How long has your TARDIS been dead?"

"Two years. How long has it been since you learned to fly yours?"

"I never bothered to. River always teased me—" he broke off midsentence. She looked over at him, eyebrows raised in questioning, but he didn't continue that train of thought.

"So," he began again. "Two years on Earth, and you've experienced _nothing_ un-Earth-y?"

"Pretty much. Mutt and I have kept to ourselves these last two years."

"Then what about before? You didn't just travel alone, did you?" She was silent, resolutely refusing to answer his question.

"I've not traveled alone in a long time," he mused aloud, occasionally glancing over at her to see if he has elicited a reaction from her. "I've had so many wonderful companions, and my most recent companions were, well, they've all been fantastic. Martha, Donna, Jack, Wilfred… Amy and Rory and their daughter, River; she's feisty, mind you… And Rose…" he stopped, eyes wetting with tears. "And they've all gone, in one way or another… Martha left of her own accord, as did Wilfred… Donna lost her memory and River got thrown into prison for good this time… Amy and Rory, well… And Rose," his voice cracked, "she's trapped with a Metacrisis in a parallel universe."

"I'm, I'm sorry," she said, genuinely feeling the Time Lord's pain. He shrugged it off.

"In the end, they break my heart. But I just keep going back for more heartbreak." She stared at him in shock.

"Why would you do that?" she asked emphatically.

"Because having your heart broken is far better than being alone." She shook her head in dissent.

"I don't think so," she argued vehemently. "Not having heartache is far better."

"Care to explain why?" he asked somewhat mischievously. She glared at him.

"Care to give me your name?" she retorted.

"Ouch. That hurts. No, I think I may have to keep my name a secret for now."

"Then what do you call yourself?"

"_That_ I can tell you. I'm called the Doctor."

"Doctor Who?"

"Very clever. Ha-ha. You've never heard of me?" He looked at her, watching for some sign.

"Not to injure your ego, Doctor, but I can't really recall. I may have heard it once, long ago, but now…" She stared at the TARDIS in the distance.

XxXxX

After a mostly silent remainder of the walk, the pair (plus Mutt) eventually reached the TARDIS.

"You never told me what you called yourself," the Doctor said, leaning up against the side of the TARDIS.

"I…I just go by the Traveler now. Kind of self-explanatory, but it works," she replied with a shrug.

"Glad to have met you, Traveler," he said, grinning brightly. "And you also, Mutt. It's uh; well it's nice to know I'm not the last of the Time Lords." She gave him a genuine smile this time, one that didn't shrink away.

"Me too. Maybe our paths will cross again someday," she told him, secretly hoping they wouldn't.

"The two last Time Lords in existence? Traveler, I don't think it's possible we _won't _see each other again," he replied with a smile of his own. He opened the door of the TARDIS and walked in. The Traveler turned to leave, but his voice held her back for a moment more.

"Oh, and Traveler? Good luck with…surviving and all. Geronimo!" A sudden whoosh of air shoved her backwards and she watched as the TARDIS dematerialized with an incredibly loud but altogether interesting sound.

She allowed herself a small smile as she walked away.

XxXxX

The Doctor looked around the control room of the TARDIS. With just him it was so big, so lonely. The room was so quiet he could hear his double heartbeat—ba-dum ba-dum, ba-dum ba-dum.

"The heartbeat of a Time Lord," he whispered. "Why is it that I find whoever's left and end up losing them too?" He slumped in a chair and groaned.

The silence hung for a moment, before he jumped up and ran to the screen on the console. He typed in a few things and suddenly, a massive list of names came up.

"Alright, let's see if I can find you…" he muttered, typing in the word "Traveler."

"Not found."

"What do you mean, not found?" he grumbled.

"Archive incomplete."

"Why you stupid—" He stopped and looked around him.

"Sexy? How would you feel if we brought another Time Lord with us?"

XxXxX

She sat in her home; thanking the universe that she managed to avoid getting attached to the only Time Lord she'd seen in ages.

"We're just fine on our own, right Mutt?" The dog barked in assent. A sudden noise caused the two of them to look up.

"Why is he back?" she hissed. The door burst open and the Doctor entered her home.

"Who were your parents?" he asked in curiosity.

"Why does it matter?" she snapped. "And why are you back?"

"Because I noticed something when I woke up." He rushed over to a room and flung the door open.

"Hah!" He leaned his head out. "You have the complete records and histories of Gallifrey in here!"

"So?" she replied with a scowl. "They were left to me when my parents died."

"Precisely. Well, did you ever think about the fact that we could see if there are any other surviving Time Lords?" She thought for a moment and stared at him.

"If I give you the records and go with you _once_ will you please leave me alone?" He grinned widely.

"Sure thing." He grasped her hand to lead her to the TARDIS, and she slumped to the ground in a faint.


End file.
